I'm not going to try muddy the waters of defining what influence is. However, I do think influence can be clarified and meaningful for an individual by thinking a little about what it's not.

The opposite of being influential is being neutral.

Neutral is defined as "notalignedwithorsupportinganysideorpositioninacontroversy; ofnoparticularkind,characteristics,etc.; and notcausingorreflectingachangeinsomething." That last part is the one that strikes me as particularly important as we start a new year.

Not causing or reflecting a change in something sounds like a pretty apathetic existence to me. So how can you be an influencer in 2011?